Molly glanced at her cell phone as she entered Ruby’s Diner. She was meeting Sarah for lunch, but knew she was running late. As she approached the table, she quickly said, “I’m so sorry I’m late, Sarah. I was up late finishing up a story I needed to turn in, and the time completely got away from me.”

“That’s ok, Molly. Don’t worry about it,” Sarah said with a friendly smile. “It gave me time to catch up on social media. I ordered you a glass of iced tea,” she said, gesturing to the glass on the table.

Molly removed her jacket and purse, and placed them on the back of the chair as she took her seat.

“I’m glad you suggested Ruby’s. I was craving a pot pie,” Molly stated. “I swear I’m going to miss them when I return to Seattle.”

“Are you?” Sarah asked, with a tilt of her head. “I mean, returning to Seattle, not missing the pot pies. That’s a given.”

“Of course I am,” Molly stated automatically. “My life’s there.”

“It doesn’t have to be,” Sarah coaxed. “You could move back to Bayfield. I know a lot of people will be happy about it, especially a certain public defender.”

“Even though Spencer and I are getting close again, it doesn’t mean I’m going to uproot my whole life just to be with him. Contrary to popular belief, love isn’t everything.” As soon as the word slipped out of her mouth, Molly wished she could take it back. “Scratch the ‘L’ word. We’re going to pretend I never said it.”

“Why? Is it not true?” Sarah probed.

“It was a slip of the tongue; nothing more,” Molly stated emphatically, though she wondered if she was trying to convince herself or Sarah more.

“You don’t have to be afraid, you know. Spencer’s a good guy, and you can trust him.”

“Everyone keeps saying that, but it’s hard when you’ve been burnt once already. Don’t get me wrong, the more I get to know him again, the more I realize it’s true. I just don’t know if I will ever be able to completely let my walls down with him.”

“You’re right; you can’t. There is something you can do though.”

“What’s that?” Molly asked.

“You need to pray to God, and ask Him to help you let down your walls,” Sarah explained. “God can do anything, and He wants to help you. All you have to do is ask.”

“I haven’t really told anyone this, but ever since I went to church the other day, I’ve been praying and reading the Bible again. I haven’t done that since I left Bayfield ten years ago.”

“That’s so good,” Sarah said with a big grin. “Next time you pray, ask God. I promise, you won’t regret it.”

Molly knew Sarah was right. She had been trying to do it all on her own, but she wasn’t designed to navigate life that way. No person is an island; she needed to let other people, and most importantly, she needed to let God, be a real part of her life.

“Thanks, Sarah. I really needed to hear that. I have to go to the restroom,” Molly said standing up. “I’ll be right back.”

She headed towards the back of the diner, and entered the restroom. Both stalls were in use, so she moved over to the sink to check her makeup. She placed her purse on the counter, and then leaned in towards the mirror.

Molly turned her head from side-to-side, inspecting her face. “I definitely need to powder my nose,” she mumbled to herself, opening her purse to look for her compact.

A silver USB drive caught her attention. She pulled it out, and looked at it skeptically. “Where did you come from?” she asked herself in a perplexed tone. “You’re not mine, so who put you in my purse.”

She glanced back in her purse and noticed a folded piece of paper that was also unfamiliar. Molly unfolded it and read the contents.

Spencer Conrad is not what he seems. The information on this drive links him to underhanded dealings with the district attorney. He shouldn’t get away with what he’s been doing. It’s your job to make him pay for his unethical behavior.

The note didn’t have a signature and had been typed. What was going on?

Molly shoved both items into her purse, and instead of using the restroom, she exited the area and made a beeline to Sarah. She slipped into her seat, her arms folded across her chest in a protective manner.

“What’s wrong?” Sarah asked with trepidation. “You look like you’re going to pass out.”

She debated whether or not to confide in Sarah. On the one hand, she trusted her opinion, but on the other hand, Sarah was good friends with Spencer. What if she told him before Molly could figure out what was on the drive? If he found out before she got to the bottom of it, he would have the heads up to try to erase his tracks.

Stop it, she told herself. You know Spencer. He’s a good person and you’re jumping to the wrong conclusion.

Molly opened her purse, pulled out the note, and handed it over to Sarah.

As soon as she was finished reading the contents, she looked up at Molly with rounded eyes. “Have you looked at the information on the drive?”

She shook her head. “No, it wasn’t in my purse this morning. Someone put it in since I’ve been here. Did you see anyone behind me acting odd?”

“I wish I could say, ‘yes,’ but I was so focused on our conversation, I didn’t pay attention to anyone else.” Sarah’s brows came together in a furrow as she asked, “What are you going to do?”

“I’m going to take this drive back to my parents’ house and look at the information on my laptop. Then I’m going to take it to my tech guy to see if he can get to the bottom of it.”

“I have to tell you; I don’t think any of this is true. Something fishy is going on.”

“I think you’re right, but if I don’t do something about this, there’s a good chance whoever gave it to me will just find someone else to give it to. The next person might not look into it before publishing the content.”

“All right, I support whatever you think is best. I can tell you really care about Spencer, so I’ll let you be the one to tell him about it.”

“Considering the turn of events, I think I need to look into this immediately.”

Sarah nodded. “Please text me, and let me know what happens.”

“Will do,” Molly promised before standing up and exiting the diner.

Once she returned to her parents’ house, she went into her room and popped the drive into the plug on her laptop.

A folder icon blinked, beckoning Molly to click it. When she did, a massive list of files appeared. They were listed by date and had either Conrad’s or Jacks’ names on it.

She clicked the first one and an email from Spencer Conrad to Jeremy Jacks, the district attorney, appeared. There was detailed information about a client; the type of information that if used by the district attorney, would convict the client with little effort.

Molly clicked the next one down. This one was reversed and was from the district attorney to Spencer. It had a defense strategy with an arrow next to one item. It showed that the police broke the chain of procedure when securing evidence, which meant Spencer could get the case thrown out because of it.

After working down the list of twenty emails, Molly’s heart seized with dread. The evidence on the drive was overwhelming; Spencer Conrad was corrupt.

As Spencer finished his closing argument, he watched the jury members’ faces to gage their reactions. They seemed to respond positively to his evidence and emotional plea on Daryl Burke’s behalf.

Even though he was unable to track down Trixie at the hotel, Spencer was able to put together a strong case to defend his client. He just hoped the jury believed Daryl’s story and the hotel clerk’s testimony that he saw Daryl the night of the robbery.

Court was dismissed until the jury reached a verdict. With this type of case, the most it would take would be a couple of days, but it could be as quick as a few hours. Either way, he still had two other cases to wrap up along with a new case his boss had given him. He needed to get back to his office to make some calls.

As Spencer made his way down the aisle of the courtroom, he noticed Molly sitting in the back row of seats. She stood up as he approached.

“Here to see me slay a legal dragon?” Spencer joked with a grin. Her somber expression quickly caused him to turn serious. “What’s the matter?”

“I need to speak with you,” she glanced around at the lingering court personnel, “alone.”

“Okay, but you’re starting to worry me,” he stated as they made their way out of the courtroom and out to his car. “Is everything all right?”

“Not really,” she said with a shake of her head. “It has to do with the allegations against you.”

“Did your tech guy find something out?”

“He’s still working on it, but I’m going to have to take something to him right away.”

“What’s that?” Spencer asked with concern.

“Here, read for yourself,” she said, handing him the note.

As soon as he was done reading the contents, he handed it back to her. “Did you take a look at the drive?”

She nodded. “It had a lot of evidence that makes you look guilty.”

“Well, you know it’s not true, right?” Spencer asked, hoping Molly still believed in him.

“Part of me does, but you need to see the evidence for yourself.” She swiveled her messenger bag around and pulled out her laptop. Molly switched it on, loaded the drive, and turned the screen so Spencer could see it.

He spent the next ten minutes reading through the first several emails. As he progressed down the list, he became more flabbergasted at the content and how it made him look.

“I never sent any of these emails, nor got any from the district attorney. I don’t know how, but these are forged.”

“Like I said, I’m going to take these to my tech guy, so we will know soon enough if that’s true.”

“I have a contact in the police department. It would save us from driving into Seattle,” Spencer offered.

Molly shook her head. “No way. We don’t want to involve cops. There’s a chance they could arrest and detain you based on the information.”

“Okay, we can do it your way. All I ask is that you don’t say anything to anyone about this until we get it all sorted out. I want to look into the matter myself.”

“I won’t—for now, as long as you let me help investigate. I do have to tell you Sarah knows since she was there when I got the information from the anonymous source.”

“That’s all right. I trust Sarah. I know she won’t tell anyone.”

“You ready to head to Seattle?” Molly inquired.

“Just as soon as this verdict comes back. Hopefully it will be soon, and we can head up there later tonight.”

Spencer reached out and took Molly’s hand. “In the meantime, you want to grab a cup of coffee while we wait?”

She nodded. “Only if you throw in a sandwich. I’m starving since I didn’t end up eating with Sarah at lunchtime.”

“You got yourself a deal,” Spencer said, leaning over and kissing Molly. “Thank you for believing in me.”

“We’re in this together,” Molly vowed. “We’re going to figure this out and get you exonerated.”

Spencer liked Molly’s optimism, but part of him worried what would happen if they couldn’t. Could he live under that shadow that someday the false allegations could come out? Or worse, what would happen if whoever made up the information, decided to give it to someone else besides Molly; someone who wouldn’t hesitate to publish it.

Silently, he sent up a prayer, and asked God to intervene and help him. Even though he was in the darkest part of the storm, he felt God’s presence calming the turbulence around him.